I'm treating my sable brushes by 'washing' them with regular bar soap, rinsing them really good and shaping them with matte hair conditioner or matte hair paste. Depends on how they behave after the rinse which I use: if they seem 'dry' it's conditioner, if they don't hold their shape, I use paste. Texture hair paste works for synthetic brushes, too, even though they don't need any conditioner or care as such. Thank you for the very informative, concise and clear videos on all subjects in miniature painting!
Another excellent and informative video. After restarting the hobby after a 20yr hiatus (due to my son and daughter getting into 40k) we have all been binge watching your hobby cheats videos and are looking forward to putting into practice some of the techniques you have demonstrated so throughly. Thank you.
Thank you so much for a great breakdown. Very new to painting and noticed I need new brushes. I got just a pack of cheap ones to get started but looking at buying better ones. Tremendous help. Thank you.
haha, I was so focused on watching you clean your brush with the preserver that I didn't notice I had been holding my cuppatea at a very dodgy tilt nearly spilling it, lucky I had already drunk some of it otherwise my keyboard would have been washed with tea...again. Very handy info. Thanks
My university art instructors always recommended that brush soap, but never explained how to use it. 3 seconds of instruction. Once again, very basic instruction, but so often overlooked!!❤👍👍 (Your method is what I do/did, but no one every told me to do it that way! But brush tips have always been an obsession!🤣).
I watched this video a decent while ago. I just came across a How It's Made video about paint and I immediately your voice saying "weasel taint" popped into my head. I hope you're happy with yourself. Awesome vid though. Very informative.
More great advice! Thanks for your time & effort in these subjects. I’ve been painting/wargaming for quite some time; but I’m never done learning. I WISH these reference videos were around when i started(1991😬). Anyway, never too late to learn more! Thanks
I am with you, I wish all of these resources were there when I started in the 90s as well, it's the golden age of miniature painting to be sure. :) - I am very glad that it's all helpful.
Great info someone suggested using hand sanitizer to clean brushes so I’ve been using that for a while, seems to be working good, use it after a paint session then rinse in water. Got lots of brushes my preferred ones are soft flat filbert brushes.
Good call, be careful, it often contains alcohol, so it can dry out natural hair (sable). Along that line, you can use something like hair conditioner (like you use on your head). Basically, a sable brush is real hair, so whatever works on your hair can work on the brush.
@@VinceVenturella Thanks for the suggestions i only use synthetic hair so it shouldn't be a problem, heard real hair brushes are fragile and the cleaning is just like real hair, shampoo, conditioner, the works hehe, just like u suggested.
I have yet to find a good synthetic brush. I just bought a Daler Rowney Graduate and the size 1 split almost immediately. I didn't misuse it or get paint in the ferrule or anything, after one model it just split open. The extremely cheap ones I got in a pack of 20 have done better!
This might be a very weird newbie question. Since I've restarted painting as a hobby I'd like to do things the right way. I've never really been tought how to rinse my brush in a cup of water during painting. I've always done it, but I don't know if there's any dos or don'ts. Like are you supposed to rinse in a circular motion or from side to side? A bit silly I know, but I'd really like to know how you usually do it :-) thx for a great ton of videos. I really enjoy them!
It'sa fine question, and i'm going to give you a secret. Put a few drops of surfactant or barring that, a drop of dish soap (one, very, very small drop) in your paint water. (Very Small). Swish back and forth, draw it up the side of the cup to force out the water. Dry, repeat.
@@VinceVenturella Thx Vince! That's something I have to try. So the plan here is to put some paint on the brush, do some painting, then do a quick rinse in the cup, dry the brush a bit, and repeat, right? I don't have any surfactant yet, so it will have to be the dish soap for starters. I don't suppose you would use the water with dish soap for thinning paint then?
I've noticed some knock off Windsor & Newton series 7 brushes recently, they have synthetic hair rather than Sable. I go them from eBay and Amazon, they cost the same as retail W&N S7s so it's not like I was cheap because I thought I was getting a deal. I only buy from reputable vendors now as both Amazon and eBay refused to help me.
I know, I'm so fucking sorry to all the brushes I have right now. Even the ones I thought I was being "Good" to that I bought last weekend. I've messed them up a bit. Woops.
You may have noticed throughout my videos that I am very obsessive about certain things - this is one of them. You can see it gets used all the time, but I certainly make sure it's spotless before it goes away ;)
I had bad luck with Windsor and Newton series 7. I got a size 2 at dick blick which was $18 or $20. The brush had the guide hair issue at the tip so that I wasn't able to do any detail work like I wanted to use it for. I tried to cut off the guide hair and accidentally cut off a chunk of the tip. Ironically, the brush is now better for edge highlighting because the top is flat. I just ordered a da Vinci maestro #1 and it was half the price, hopefully it's a better showing of sable brushes, but will be hard to beat my princeton Lauren series #1 that cost $5, the Princeton Lauren and select artiste are currently my favorite brushes
That can happen I've found with multiple brushes, it's just a sort of accidental thing that happens sometimes and you do have to surgically remove with an ultra sharp razor blade. That being said, Da Vinici are certainly fine, as as Monuments Bomb Wick Igniters if you want to give those a try as you can get those at a great price.
Vince have you ever gotten "boogers" on the tips of your brush? Seems to just be dried paint but doesn't come off with just water. I'm following all the steps you've laid down in various videos - my paint is thinned, my palette and brush water are clean, correct amount of water in the belly, ect. I'm getting this with both sable and synthetic. (And I clean them regularly.) As always much appreciated.
Yep, it can come from two factors. First, if you have a single hair of the brush poking out slightly farther, it's likely to collect enough paint and be thin enough, it will dry almost instantly, which will then attrack more paint, which will dry, and so on. So you want to take a VERY sharp exacto and very carefully cut that away. Option two is just that it's very dry where you are painting and the tip of your brush is drying inordinately fast, in that case, a little retarder in your brush before you go into your paint can help.
What about brush size??? The smallest I’ve found is “000” or 3/0! Do they come smaller for finer detail work?? By the way, I did pick up several pointers from your video!! Many Thanks👍😁
You really don't need anything smaller or to go that small even very often. Something like a 00 is just fine and that's for the smallest details. In general, you're just looking for a good tip, which you get from a high quality sable.
QQ, what's the best way to clean brushes in water, as in, is it the swooshing from side-to-side which is best for getting paint/ink out? In which case a wide water jar/cup would be best? I know not to splay the brush out on the bottom or the jar, but does rotating the side of the brush against the edge of the jar cause problems too?
In general, just swishing it around is the right move. The real key is the brush cleaning and making sure that you aren't letting paint either a) get too high up in the ferrule or b) sit in your brush for too long. That's actually the big brush destroyers.
Painting is a true passion for me, so I can spend 30-40 hours painting Friday and Saturday happily with little if any breaks. I am lucky that I have a single-minded focus on things.
Great video...excellent advice. I ordered in a series 7, it cost a LOT of money ($40+) and the tip is total crap. Difficult to get over that and order in another one. I will make do with the cheaper brushes I can actually buy at the stores here. Which is probably fine, because I am not a great painter anyway and I am very hard on brushes.
That's a shame it cost that much (which is crazy) - you could look into other brands and see if you can find something you like. Scharff, Raphael and Da Vinici are all quite nice and varying prices. You could also just hunt around for a sable brush of any brand that is cheap and give it a try, but yes, that is one of the nice advantages of having the Series 7 in my local store, I can always verify the quality of it before I buy it.
What brush do you use for metallics? I heard other TH-camrs say to not use the Kolinsky brushes but in your videos it looks like you're just using the same brush. Waiting for my Vallejo metallic paints to arrive :)
I don't use my good brushes is the short answer. I have specific brushes for metallics. I basically use old sables that have lost their tips or tougher synthetics.
Vince Venturella yes exactly. You had these pale rat ogres which I think you did a purple shade on. I was thinking about doing something like that for Boneripper and having green liquid showing through the cuts and stitches like he's being kept alive by warpstone or something. What do you think?
Lighter spots in spaces like that are always tough. If you are doing hyper pale flesh, bright green warpstone isn't going to show up well. In general, you want light split by dark. Pale flesh split by bright green wouldn't show well most likely. You could either have very dark flesh and bright liquid, or you could do pale flesh, with dark purple bruising surrounding the cuts and scars and then bright again with the fluid. As a last option, you could also have the green liquid be very dark and leaking out onto the flesh.
Vince Venturella I gotcha. The pale flesh on your purple rat ogres weren't that bright though that's why i was thinking the green might work but I'd probably two tone it and have dark in the depths of the cut with lighter green on the outsides. Love what you do buddy! Can't wait to get my goofy ass question answered ! :D
Sorry I know it’s an older video. Which brush would you use for glazes? You mentioned not using nice brushes for washes etc hence thought to check. I’ve just got some kolinsky sable brushes and I don’t want to ruin them.
Generally either a synthetic brush OR you want to utilize the nice brush, but make sure you are NOT overloading the brush with paint, just a small amount in the tip and belly of the brush, don't soak it.
Possibly an odd question... but who else can I ask? LOL... So the masters brush soap you showed here. I got a tub of it (like 24 ounces or something like that) I worry about getting the whole thing wet (like you seem to do with the smaller bit). I kinda cut a chunk out of it and keep a smaller amount (a couple ounces) in some Tupperware and just use that. Is that stupid or a good idea? should I just use my brushes on the whole 22 ounce tub? I don't want to ruin the soap. (obviously VERY new to painting....)
Depends on what you are going for and what your base paint is. Certainly you need to for most anything but a base coat as you would want to be working in thinner layers.
Vince Venturella Thanks good sir! Also I was telling my friend about your "Painters Motivating Painters" group for warhammer and we thought it sounds awesome. So can anybody? / how do we join? I think I saw before in another video but I can't remember.
I've heard that natural brushes are better in some way for painting your miniatures than the synthetic ones. I'm generally painting with synthetic ones, however I had an opportunity to test and check out the natural weasel fur brush. Frankly speaking I do not see any difference between painting with those, I don't have much experience though. Am I missing something?
So in general, they have better control of the paint, they fray less easily and maintain a sharper point. They also clean a little better and hold more paint in the belly. That being said, there are plenty of painters who use synthetics and achieve incredible results, so as always if something works for you, then that is the right choice.
Have you noticed a big difference in brands of Kolinsky sable brushes? I am considering buying the Green Stuff World Serious Painter Kolinsky-Sable brushes. Would it be better to hold out for Winsor-Newton or should I give these a try?
Yes, there is definitely a massive quality difference in some of them. Honestly, my feeling would be W&N Series 7 (do not get the miniature ones, the normal brushes), Raphael 8404 or the Slow Fuse sable brushes, which have really impressed me and are costed quite fairly.
Great video and insight! Just today i acquired my first winsor newton series 7 size 2 and i have to say the tip didnt hold well at all. After the first 10/20 minutes the bristles just split into several chunks. Is it possible to mess up a brush that hard in such a short amount of time? Or should i go get my money back at the store?
It sounds like it wasn't a great brush, there can be bad versions of the brush (as they are made by hand, so there can always be one or two bad ones in the bunch). If you get it replaced, you might also try giving it a good clean first.
Brand new to this and noticed your brushes were various sizes and shapes. Do you have a list of brush sizes and shapes to have a good solid foundation to start and/or what types to stay away from? I didn't realize how many different varieties of brushes are out there.
It's tough, as new, I am not sure what you have. But let's go this way. You want, in general, a larger brush for doing base coat type stuff and a fine brush with a very sharp point for micro-detail (eyes and such) only. Next is probably a good mid-size for when you need goldi-locks. Invest in 1-2 really nice brushes (I like Winsor & Newton series 7 which you can get from Amazon cheap enough), but you use those for your fine work only and not for metallics. Have a nice pack of cheap synthetics (like something you can buy in bulk for $6 from Hobby Lobby) for metallics, washes, and other brush destroying tasks. A big soft dry brush would be next. Hope that all helps and gives you some ideas.
I don't like them, they are generally overpriced for lower quality. Either cheap bulk synthetics or artist brushes are the way to go. As to tiny, I am not sure what you mean.
@@VinceVenturella ah ok. Thanks for the reply! Really appreciate it man! By "tiny" I mean is it worth buying a brush that has tiny bristles? Or can a thick brush with a lot of bristles and a pointy tip do the job. For really small detail work like eyes for example.
@@thelonepainter4760 It's worth it to have a good size 0 or 00, but it's for very precise work and RARELY touched, it wouldn't be my first purchase, a good sable size 1 is where you start.
Hi Vince, how do the artificial sable brushes hold up against the real thing and are they better than other synthetics? I bought one to try out but would like a more experienced option, trying to move away from sable . Thanks for any advice.
To some degree, it's just the cost of synthetic brushes. That being said, you can wash synthetics with isopropyl alcohol (don't let it get all the way down in the ferrule, it will melt the glue), but it will really get absolutely everything out and could extend the working life.
As far as I know, it's probably not super great, but it's not bad either. I don't think it's very air tight anyway and honestly, as long as you add water when you are rinsing your brushes, you are fine.
@@VinceVenturella water seems to just run off of my brush soap, unless I scrape a hole in it with a knife or other sharp object first... I do know nothing of it ends up on the brush...
Random question but what thes difference between a citadel base brush and a layer brush? Im just getying into painting more and befor i just used a citadel starter brush for everything, now its going out and im freaking out lol
I see a lot of concern around brushes for newer painters and completely understandably, I was in the same place when I started. Here is my best advice. The difference between those two brushes? Probably some size, maybe the type of bristles, but it really doesn't matter. Here would be my advice. Grab yourself a good size pack of cheap synthetic brushes from amazon or the like. Use these for metallics, base coating etc. Abuse them, and generally keep them clean but toss them if they go bad. Grab yourself a nice pack of make-up brushes from amazon or the like and use those for dry-brushing or similar rough work. Same as above. Get yourself a few nice brushes, winsor & newton series 7, Scarff, Da Vinici, Artis Opus, whatever. Something that is sable and nice. Use these only for detail work, careful work and treat them well and clean them regularly. Most people who paint as much as I do have some collection like that of brushes. We use bad brushes or lower quality brushes for big wet blending and base coat style work and then switch into nice brushes for softer detail work. Hope that all helps.
Hi Vince, just a question, I used to prime with pinsel because of aire moisture, when I do this with big Citadel Base Brushes, they ruin very quickly maybe because of me being rough an quick. any advices? Thank you.
Well, I always, 100% say that you should look at priming with an airbrush. It's relatively cheap to get a small airbrush starter set and a little fold up booth (if you have a 1 meter by 1 meter space, that is enough to airbrush) and prime that way. You get a much more even smooth prime and can sidestep this whole issue. Now, that aside, I am not familiar with that primer as we don't have it here in the states, but most primers have other elements in them beyond paint to make them more durable. If you are getting primer paint way down in the ferrule of the brush, it's going to get destroyed almost immediately as that will solidify quite quickly and be very solid. My advice would be if you are going to continue brush on primer, you should buy bulk packs of cheap artist brushes from amazon (you can get 30-40 brushes for $6 US) and use those. Then if they are destroyed, who cares?
And you make this clean after each painting session? (sorry if you already said in your vid, my english is not enought good to undertand all your words;)
In general, I do this after each project (so I paint one project - 1 miniature, or box, or "thing" at a time. When that project is done, I then go through this cleaning. Hope that helps and no issue, always happy to assist.
@@VinceVenturella Ok. I imagine that you make a project in one day, so you do it each day I imagine. Thank you. Honestly, your one of the best help about painting mini on the web. Many thanks.
They are more or less the only brush I have used for a while (for fine work, I buy plenty of cheap $5 packs of brushes for rough and less detailed work). :)
Hey Vince, I'm currently using some brushes bought on Amazon and I really struggle to keep a sharp tip. The end of the brush always seems to "curl" even after cleaning them up with some brush soap. What can I do to prevent/fix it?
So sadly this is really just the bane of synthetic brushes. There isn't much you can really do about it. As they get wet and get paint, they just tend to warp over time. Cleaning the brushes more regularly and making sure you don't get any paint too deep in the brush can help, but it's inevitable in the end,. So when getting cheaper synthetic brushes, the key is keep them cheap and plentiful.
@@antoinevoiement5835 hi mate! Sorry I'm late to the party. If giving you trouble from my experience these were the big things. One is paint gets in the furrow (metal part) even a little, on some brushes, can just get the tip undone. Next is cleaning, be fairly thorough, not rough but back and fourth with cleaning until the water is clear when you rinse. Then form a tip with your fingers once you dab dry and sit the brush on its side and let it rest. Third that Vince doesn't mention and it's a thin is metallic paints can fuck your brush lol. So there are flecks of solid in Metallics and these will affect your brushes shape from my experience. Wash these well. What I do is I have a couple of brushes that do the work for metallics because I can clean then more and keep an eye on them. So metallics in my experience suck when you add water so add medium and make sure it's thinner. This is less work on the brush. Other thing is if you are using the brush alot then unfortunately they just wear. Get brushes with lots of bristles to begin with, they hold point well. I got a brand, decent brand, however they weren't robust and sucked for base coating and even washing. So get robust bristles, not necessarily the most expensive. Remember, pick your brushes for your job in mind. If you do a ton of base painting washing and dry brushing you need size 1-2 and look to make sure they look like alot of bristles cause some are actually fine/less bristles. Hope that helps and ofc when you paint follow these tips you are probably not doing one very well as we ALL do 😉🙂
OMG, I didn't realize Cotman was synthetic. That is what I have painted with for years. I recently got a Series 7 but for example Mr Glottkin was done entirely with Cotman. I do like my Series 7 though. I'm being even more careful since I got it, though it certainly won't las a year. I do a lot of fine detail so put quite a heavy workload on it.
Yes, you are also using a 00 probably for most of that work - or as I call it - eyeball and freehand HIGHLIGHT brush ;) - but we have had this discussion before - if it works for you (and it does) then who am I to say you should change? :)
![[TH] RNT vs SPG - VCT Ascension Pacific - Day 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RUTkf8Detj8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm treating my sable brushes by 'washing' them with regular bar soap, rinsing them really good and shaping them with matte hair conditioner or matte hair paste. Depends on how they behave after the rinse which I use: if they seem 'dry' it's conditioner, if they don't hold their shape, I use paste. Texture hair paste works for synthetic brushes, too, even though they don't need any conditioner or care as such.
Thank you for the very informative, concise and clear videos on all subjects in miniature painting!
Happy to help!
Another excellent and informative video. After restarting the hobby after a 20yr hiatus (due to my son and daughter getting into 40k) we have all been binge watching your hobby cheats videos and are looking forward to putting into practice some of the techniques you have demonstrated so throughly. Thank you.
Excellent, glad to hear that and I am happy to hear it's helpful. :)
Thanks for doing this Vince, it's good to learn how to do things right from the beginning for us painting newbs.
Happy to help buddy as always. If there is anything you need, just reach out.
Another good and helpful video. I almost spit my morning coffee on my laptop when you dropped the weasel taint.
Hey, it's what it is. Many of us spend a large part of our lives now putting weasel taint in our mouth to shape the brush ;)
Now that's all I can think of when i put a brush in my mouth.
Ah man, no wonder I have wrecked so many brushes. this is going to save me a lot of money and time haha
I hope so, it was one of the main reasons I wanted to do this - to make sure people got the most out of their investment :) Glad to help.
Thank you so much for a great breakdown. Very new to painting and noticed I need new brushes. I got just a pack of cheap ones to get started but looking at buying better ones. Tremendous help. Thank you.
Awesome, happy to help as always. :)
haha, I was so focused on watching you clean your brush with the preserver that I didn't notice I had been holding my cuppatea at a very dodgy tilt nearly spilling it, lucky I had already drunk some of it otherwise my keyboard would have been washed with tea...again. Very handy info. Thanks
Whew, close one - glad I wasn't an American responsible yet again for wasting good english tea. ;)
My university art instructors always recommended that brush soap, but never explained how to use it. 3 seconds of instruction. Once again, very basic instruction, but so often overlooked!!❤👍👍
(Your method is what I do/did, but no one every told me to do it that way! But brush tips have always been an obsession!🤣).
Glad it was helpful! :)
I love your videos, I have been painting off and on for years, I am still learning, your videos are some of the best!
Excellent, happy to help as always. :)
Thank you for this video, really useful. Now I know why my brushes look so terrible even after 1-2 painting sessions.
I decided I need to paint again...…. thanks for this informative video Vince. You are the Orange Juice to my Champagne
Awesome, happy to help as always.
Great video, thanks for the tip on the soap, I have a bar of the Davinci soap think I'll get a master one now
WOW! Now I know how to use the brush soap and preserver I've had for a year now! Thanks!
Happy to help!
I watched this video a decent while ago. I just came across a How It's Made video about paint and I immediately your voice saying "weasel taint" popped into my head. I hope you're happy with yourself. Awesome vid though. Very informative.
Happy to help as always, with painting and all weasel taint related needs. :)
So glad I found this video, wanted to buy some better quality brushes but was scared I would wreck them. Thanks for the great tips Vince
Always happy to help. :)
More great advice! Thanks for your time & effort in these subjects. I’ve been painting/wargaming for quite some time; but I’m never done learning. I WISH these reference videos were around when i started(1991😬). Anyway, never too late to learn more! Thanks
I am with you, I wish all of these resources were there when I started in the 90s as well, it's the golden age of miniature painting to be sure. :) - I am very glad that it's all helpful.
Great video! Thankyou. Learnt alot here and I think brush tips are one of the biggest helpers when starting out.
Great info someone suggested using hand sanitizer to clean brushes so I’ve been using that for a while, seems to be working good, use it after a paint session then rinse in water.
Got lots of brushes my preferred ones are soft flat filbert brushes.
Good call, be careful, it often contains alcohol, so it can dry out natural hair (sable). Along that line, you can use something like hair conditioner (like you use on your head). Basically, a sable brush is real hair, so whatever works on your hair can work on the brush.
@@VinceVenturella Thanks for the suggestions i only use synthetic hair so it shouldn't be a problem, heard real hair brushes are fragile and the cleaning is just like real hair, shampoo, conditioner, the works hehe, just like u suggested.
I have yet to find a good synthetic brush. I just bought a Daler Rowney Graduate and the size 1 split almost immediately. I didn't misuse it or get paint in the ferrule or anything, after one model it just split open. The extremely cheap ones I got in a pack of 20 have done better!
I always buy cheap synthetics, I've never had an expensive synthetic actually perform.
As always Vince more good advice, thanks for posting . Regards Gav .
Thanks for watching and I always hope it helps.
Also a good idea to start with a 6-8$ Dollar brush, when you get into the more expensive brushes
Yep
This might be a very weird newbie question. Since I've restarted painting as a hobby I'd like to do things the right way. I've never really been tought how to rinse my brush in a cup of water during painting. I've always done it, but I don't know if there's any dos or don'ts. Like are you supposed to rinse in a circular motion or from side to side? A bit silly I know, but I'd really like to know how you usually do it :-) thx for a great ton of videos. I really enjoy them!
It'sa fine question, and i'm going to give you a secret. Put a few drops of surfactant or barring that, a drop of dish soap (one, very, very small drop) in your paint water. (Very Small). Swish back and forth, draw it up the side of the cup to force out the water. Dry, repeat.
@@VinceVenturella Thx Vince! That's something I have to try. So the plan here is to put some paint on the brush, do some painting, then do a quick rinse in the cup, dry the brush a bit, and repeat, right? I don't have any surfactant yet, so it will have to be the dish soap for starters. I don't suppose you would use the water with dish soap for thinning paint then?
Great video/information/tips. Thanks. #1 takeaway "just the tip."
It's an important thing to remember. ;)
I've noticed some knock off Windsor & Newton series 7 brushes recently, they have synthetic hair rather than Sable. I go them from eBay and Amazon, they cost the same as retail W&N S7s so it's not like I was cheap because I thought I was getting a deal.
I only buy from reputable vendors now as both Amazon and eBay refused to help me.
I will be on the look out. :)
*looks at brushes on table* .... I'm sorry....
It's okay, now you know better for the future ;)
I know, I'm so fucking sorry to all the brushes I have right now. Even the ones I thought I was being "Good" to that I bought last weekend. I've messed them up a bit. Woops.
Yep mine's a goner alright.
Another awesome video. Really enjoy your hobby cheating series.
Thank you sir, that is very much appreciated.
That is the cleanest pot of brush cleaner and preserver I have ever seen lol.
You may have noticed throughout my videos that I am very obsessive about certain things - this is one of them. You can see it gets used all the time, but I certainly make sure it's spotless before it goes away ;)
Excellent video Vince
Thank you sir, much appreciated as always.
Makes sense why my kolinsky brushes keep splitting itself like a fork while painting..... Thanks for the video, I really messed up.....
Glad I could help!
I had bad luck with Windsor and Newton series 7. I got a size 2 at dick blick which was $18 or $20. The brush had the guide hair issue at the tip so that I wasn't able to do any detail work like I wanted to use it for. I tried to cut off the guide hair and accidentally cut off a chunk of the tip. Ironically, the brush is now better for edge highlighting because the top is flat. I just ordered a da Vinci maestro #1 and it was half the price, hopefully it's a better showing of sable brushes, but will be hard to beat my princeton Lauren series #1 that cost $5, the Princeton Lauren and select artiste are currently my favorite brushes
That can happen I've found with multiple brushes, it's just a sort of accidental thing that happens sometimes and you do have to surgically remove with an ultra sharp razor blade. That being said, Da Vinici are certainly fine, as as Monuments Bomb Wick Igniters if you want to give those a try as you can get those at a great price.
Thanks a lot Vince, very very helpful!
Thank you, I hope it helps you get the most from your brushes of all kinds :)
I'm just starting out and ruined a perfectly good brush thank you for the video should stop me from doing it again
Glad I could help :)
Vince have you ever gotten "boogers" on the tips of your brush? Seems to just be dried paint but doesn't come off with just water. I'm following all the steps you've laid down in various videos - my paint is thinned, my palette and brush water are clean, correct amount of water in the belly, ect. I'm getting this with both sable and synthetic. (And I clean them regularly.) As always much appreciated.
Yep, it can come from two factors. First, if you have a single hair of the brush poking out slightly farther, it's likely to collect enough paint and be thin enough, it will dry almost instantly, which will then attrack more paint, which will dry, and so on. So you want to take a VERY sharp exacto and very carefully cut that away.
Option two is just that it's very dry where you are painting and the tip of your brush is drying inordinately fast, in that case, a little retarder in your brush before you go into your paint can help.
@@VinceVenturella Thank you!
What sizes should we get in actual Sable Brushes? You show a size 1 in the video. Should I get a 000, 00, 0, etc....up to a 1 or 2?
To start, a size 1. From there, Sure, 2 and 00 are your next steps. :)
What about brush size??? The smallest I’ve found is “000” or 3/0!
Do they come smaller for finer detail work??
By the way, I did pick up several pointers from your video!! Many Thanks👍😁
You really don't need anything smaller or to go that small even very often. Something like a 00 is just fine and that's for the smallest details. In general, you're just looking for a good tip, which you get from a high quality sable.
QQ, what's the best way to clean brushes in water, as in, is it the swooshing from side-to-side which is best for getting paint/ink out? In which case a wide water jar/cup would be best? I know not to splay the brush out on the bottom or the jar, but does rotating the side of the brush against the edge of the jar cause problems too?
In general, just swishing it around is the right move. The real key is the brush cleaning and making sure that you aren't letting paint either a) get too high up in the ferrule or b) sit in your brush for too long. That's actually the big brush destroyers.
You're a machine! 3000 hours! if i had pearls to grasp they'd be getting such a grasping and i'd probably faint after.
Painting is a true passion for me, so I can spend 30-40 hours painting Friday and Saturday happily with little if any breaks. I am lucky that I have a single-minded focus on things.
It's a very productive gift, i'm incredibly fickle when it comes to anything. i get distracted way too easily.
Distraction has never been my issue, as my wife trying to get my attention will tell you ;)
Great video...excellent advice. I ordered in a series 7, it cost a LOT of money ($40+) and the tip is total crap. Difficult to get over that and order in another one. I will make do with the cheaper brushes I can actually buy at the stores here. Which is probably fine, because I am not a great painter anyway and I am very hard on brushes.
That's a shame it cost that much (which is crazy) - you could look into other brands and see if you can find something you like. Scharff, Raphael and Da Vinici are all quite nice and varying prices. You could also just hunt around for a sable brush of any brand that is cheap and give it a try, but yes, that is one of the nice advantages of having the Series 7 in my local store, I can always verify the quality of it before I buy it.
What brush do you use for metallics? I heard other TH-camrs say to not use the Kolinsky brushes but in your videos it looks like you're just using the same brush. Waiting for my Vallejo metallic paints to arrive :)
I don't use my good brushes is the short answer. I have specific brushes for metallics. I basically use old sables that have lost their tips or tougher synthetics.
What a fantastic vid!
Would love to see that pale rat ogre cheat vid.
I have the pale flesh on the list (you mean the very pale right, not the grey - just want to make sure)?
Vince Venturella yes exactly. You had these pale rat ogres which I think you did a purple shade on. I was thinking about doing something like that for Boneripper and having green liquid showing through the cuts and stitches like he's being kept alive by warpstone or something. What do you think?
Lighter spots in spaces like that are always tough. If you are doing hyper pale flesh, bright green warpstone isn't going to show up well. In general, you want light split by dark. Pale flesh split by bright green wouldn't show well most likely.
You could either have very dark flesh and bright liquid, or you could do pale flesh, with dark purple bruising surrounding the cuts and scars and then bright again with the fluid. As a last option, you could also have the green liquid be very dark and leaking out onto the flesh.
Vince Venturella I gotcha. The pale flesh on your purple rat ogres weren't that bright though that's why i was thinking the green might work but I'd probably two tone it and have dark in the depths of the cut with lighter green on the outsides. Love what you do buddy! Can't wait to get my goofy ass question answered ! :D
Sorry I know it’s an older video. Which brush would you use for glazes? You mentioned not using nice brushes for washes etc hence thought to check. I’ve just got some kolinsky sable brushes and I don’t want to ruin them.
Generally either a synthetic brush OR you want to utilize the nice brush, but make sure you are NOT overloading the brush with paint, just a small amount in the tip and belly of the brush, don't soak it.
Okay, that makes sense thank you
A ton of good advice....thanks
You're welcome! Always happy to help.
great vid Vince, thank you.
Thank you very much - thanks for watching and I hope the advice is helpful.
Possibly an odd question... but who else can I ask? LOL... So the masters brush soap you showed here. I got a tub of it (like 24 ounces or something like that) I worry about getting the whole thing wet (like you seem to do with the smaller bit). I kinda cut a chunk out of it and keep a smaller amount (a couple ounces) in some Tupperware and just use that. Is that stupid or a good idea? should I just use my brushes on the whole 22 ounce tub? I don't want to ruin the soap. (obviously VERY new to painting....)
I think you are fine either way, as long as you can swish and work the brush around like I do here, you will be fine if you break it up.
No wonder you get so much painting done 2000 hours a year is 40 hours a week for 50 weeks. That's about the same as a full time job.
Correct, and I probably underestimated for safety accounting for those weeks I am on the road. When at home, I try to do 60-70 hours each week. ;)
I see you never sleep or you have one of those time turners from hog warts that allows you to do twice as much work as normal.
Are you using size 1 brushes for most of your detail?
Yep, the majority of my work is done with size 1 brushes.
Great stuff! So if I am using a wet pallet I made do I still need to be thinning the paint with extra water?
Depends on what you are going for and what your base paint is. Certainly you need to for most anything but a base coat as you would want to be working in thinner layers.
Vince Venturella Thanks good sir! Also I was telling my friend about your "Painters Motivating Painters" group for warhammer and we thought it sounds awesome. So can anybody? / how do we join? I think I saw before in another video but I can't remember.
Of course, we welcome all - link is here - plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117252074374119760063
I'm disappointed there was no discussion of brush size and/or shape for particular work.
That's actually a really good point. I added that as a video on it's own for the future.
I've heard that natural brushes are better in some way for painting your miniatures than the synthetic ones. I'm generally painting with synthetic ones, however I had an opportunity to test and check out the natural weasel fur brush. Frankly speaking I do not see any difference between painting with those, I don't have much experience though. Am I missing something?
So in general, they have better control of the paint, they fray less easily and maintain a sharper point. They also clean a little better and hold more paint in the belly. That being said, there are plenty of painters who use synthetics and achieve incredible results, so as always if something works for you, then that is the right choice.
Thanks a lot, that's really helpful.
what kind of brush can I use for the Vallejo Metallic Paints for large scale figures ?
In general, I use various cheap sythetics I get in packs from amazon.
@@VinceVenturella thank you but I think I will stick with Dick Blicks .
Very good advice.
Thank you sir, much appreciated!
Sable brushes = weasel taint. . . I have so many questions and I don't think I want them answered. . .
It's better not to know. :)
Have you noticed a big difference in brands of Kolinsky sable brushes? I am considering buying the Green Stuff World Serious Painter Kolinsky-Sable brushes. Would it be better to hold out for Winsor-Newton or should I give these a try?
Yes, there is definitely a massive quality difference in some of them. Honestly, my feeling would be W&N Series 7 (do not get the miniature ones, the normal brushes), Raphael 8404 or the Slow Fuse sable brushes, which have really impressed me and are costed quite fairly.
@@VinceVenturella Thank you for saving me from making a mistake. Windsor-Newton it shall be.
Nice advices, Thanks.
Thanks for watching, always appreciated!
thanks for the amazing video man!
Thank you for watching and commenting. It's greatly appreciated.
Great video and insight! Just today i acquired my first winsor newton series 7 size 2 and i have to say the tip didnt hold well at all. After the first 10/20 minutes the bristles just split into several chunks. Is it possible to mess up a brush that hard in such a short amount of time? Or should i go get my money back at the store?
It sounds like it wasn't a great brush, there can be bad versions of the brush (as they are made by hand, so there can always be one or two bad ones in the bunch). If you get it replaced, you might also try giving it a good clean first.
@@VinceVenturella thank you for the insight your advice is better then most brushesahah
Brand new to this and noticed your brushes were various sizes and shapes. Do you have a list of brush sizes and shapes to have a good solid foundation to start and/or what types to stay away from? I didn't realize how many different varieties of brushes are out there.
It's tough, as new, I am not sure what you have. But let's go this way. You want, in general, a larger brush for doing base coat type stuff and a fine brush with a very sharp point for micro-detail (eyes and such) only. Next is probably a good mid-size for when you need goldi-locks. Invest in 1-2 really nice brushes (I like Winsor & Newton series 7 which you can get from Amazon cheap enough), but you use those for your fine work only and not for metallics. Have a nice pack of cheap synthetics (like something you can buy in bulk for $6 from Hobby Lobby) for metallics, washes, and other brush destroying tasks. A big soft dry brush would be next.
Hope that all helps and gives you some ideas.
Vince Venturella Thank you!
What's your opinion on army painter brushes? Also what about tiny brushes?
I don't like them, they are generally overpriced for lower quality. Either cheap bulk synthetics or artist brushes are the way to go. As to tiny, I am not sure what you mean.
@@VinceVenturella ah ok. Thanks for the reply! Really appreciate it man! By "tiny" I mean is it worth buying a brush that has tiny bristles? Or can a thick brush with a lot of bristles and a pointy tip do the job. For really small detail work like eyes for example.
@@thelonepainter4760 It's worth it to have a good size 0 or 00, but it's for very precise work and RARELY touched, it wouldn't be my first purchase, a good sable size 1 is where you start.
@@VinceVenturella ok thanks again!!😊
Hi Vince, how do the artificial sable brushes hold up against the real thing and are they better than other synthetics? I bought one to try out but would like a more experienced option, trying to move away from sable . Thanks for any advice.
They are usually slightly better than pure synthetics, but really, in the end, there isn't much substitution for real sable brushes.
Hey Vince, is there any way to minimise tip curl on brushes? I like using synthetics, but they do tend to curl pretty quickly.
To some degree, it's just the cost of synthetic brushes. That being said, you can wash synthetics with isopropyl alcohol (don't let it get all the way down in the ferrule, it will melt the glue), but it will really get absolutely everything out and could extend the working life.
I leave my brush soap container open. Is this bad? Thanks again for your advice.
As far as I know, it's probably not super great, but it's not bad either. I don't think it's very air tight anyway and honestly, as long as you add water when you are rinsing your brushes, you are fine.
@@VinceVenturella water seems to just run off of my brush soap, unless I scrape a hole in it with a knife or other sharp object first... I do know nothing of it ends up on the brush...
Random question but what thes difference between a citadel base brush and a layer brush? Im just getying into painting more and befor i just used a citadel starter brush for everything, now its going out and im freaking out lol
I see a lot of concern around brushes for newer painters and completely understandably, I was in the same place when I started. Here is my best advice. The difference between those two brushes? Probably some size, maybe the type of bristles, but it really doesn't matter. Here would be my advice.
Grab yourself a good size pack of cheap synthetic brushes from amazon or the like. Use these for metallics, base coating etc. Abuse them, and generally keep them clean but toss them if they go bad.
Grab yourself a nice pack of make-up brushes from amazon or the like and use those for dry-brushing or similar rough work. Same as above.
Get yourself a few nice brushes, winsor & newton series 7, Scarff, Da Vinici, Artis Opus, whatever. Something that is sable and nice. Use these only for detail work, careful work and treat them well and clean them regularly.
Most people who paint as much as I do have some collection like that of brushes. We use bad brushes or lower quality brushes for big wet blending and base coat style work and then switch into nice brushes for softer detail work.
Hope that all helps.
Hi Vince, just a question, I used to prime with pinsel because of aire moisture, when I do this with big Citadel Base Brushes, they ruin very quickly maybe because of me being rough an quick. any advices? Thank you.
Well, I always, 100% say that you should look at priming with an airbrush. It's relatively cheap to get a small airbrush starter set and a little fold up booth (if you have a 1 meter by 1 meter space, that is enough to airbrush) and prime that way. You get a much more even smooth prime and can sidestep this whole issue.
Now, that aside, I am not familiar with that primer as we don't have it here in the states, but most primers have other elements in them beyond paint to make them more durable. If you are getting primer paint way down in the ferrule of the brush, it's going to get destroyed almost immediately as that will solidify quite quickly and be very solid. My advice would be if you are going to continue brush on primer, you should buy bulk packs of cheap artist brushes from amazon (you can get 30-40 brushes for $6 US) and use those. Then if they are destroyed, who cares?
Good advice Vince :)
Thank you sir, much appreciated as always.
How would you rate the Cotman brushes? For standard line trooper painting
I have a few, I like them fine. I don't favor synthetics, but if you like synthetic brushes, I think they are an excellent choice.
And you make this clean after each painting session? (sorry if you already said in your vid, my english is not enought good to undertand all your words;)
In general, I do this after each project (so I paint one project - 1 miniature, or box, or "thing" at a time. When that project is done, I then go through this cleaning. Hope that helps and no issue, always happy to assist.
@@VinceVenturella Ok. I imagine that you make a project in one day, so you do it each day I imagine. Thank you. Honestly, your one of the best help about painting mini on the web. Many thanks.
W&n series 7 are sweet
They are more or less the only brush I have used for a while (for fine work, I buy plenty of cheap $5 packs of brushes for rough and less detailed work). :)
Hey Vince, I'm currently using some brushes bought on Amazon and I really struggle to keep a sharp tip. The end of the brush always seems to "curl" even after cleaning them up with some brush soap. What can I do to prevent/fix it?
So sadly this is really just the bane of synthetic brushes. There isn't much you can really do about it. As they get wet and get paint, they just tend to warp over time. Cleaning the brushes more regularly and making sure you don't get any paint too deep in the brush can help, but it's inevitable in the end,. So when getting cheaper synthetic brushes, the key is keep them cheap and plentiful.
@@VinceVenturella I guess it makes sense. In the end,you get what you paid for. Thank you for your time and your work kind sir
@@antoinevoiement5835 hi mate! Sorry I'm late to the party.
If giving you trouble from my experience these were the big things. One is paint gets in the furrow (metal part) even a little, on some brushes, can just get the tip undone.
Next is cleaning, be fairly thorough, not rough but back and fourth with cleaning until the water is clear when you rinse. Then form a tip with your fingers once you dab dry and sit the brush on its side and let it rest.
Third that Vince doesn't mention and it's a thin is metallic paints can fuck your brush lol. So there are flecks of solid in Metallics and these will affect your brushes shape from my experience. Wash these well. What I do is I have a couple of brushes that do the work for metallics because I can clean then more and keep an eye on them. So metallics in my experience suck when you add water so add medium and make sure it's thinner. This is less work on the brush.
Other thing is if you are using the brush alot then unfortunately they just wear. Get brushes with lots of bristles to begin with, they hold point well. I got a brand, decent brand, however they weren't robust and sucked for base coating and even washing. So get robust bristles, not necessarily the most expensive. Remember, pick your brushes for your job in mind. If you do a ton of base painting washing and dry brushing you need size 1-2 and look to make sure they look like alot of bristles cause some are actually fine/less bristles.
Hope that helps and ofc when you paint follow these tips you are probably not doing one very well as we ALL do 😉🙂
Perfect I kill brushes :(
Well, hopefully we can turn that habit around ;)
So on the hole, we must be anal about cleaning Winsor & Newtaint brushes?
Exactly. ;)
Only use the series 7 for fine detail, not the whole model.... Lumineth Realm Lords players: 😑
Yeah...that's a challenge.
Weasel taint. ❤️😂
I mean, it's what they're made of. ;)
WEASEL TAINT?????
Yep, shocking huh.
OMG, I didn't realize Cotman was synthetic. That is what I have painted with for years. I recently got a Series 7 but for example Mr Glottkin was done entirely with Cotman. I do like my Series 7 though. I'm being even more careful since I got it, though it certainly won't las a year. I do a lot of fine detail so put quite a heavy workload on it.
Yes, you are also using a 00 probably for most of that work - or as I call it - eyeball and freehand HIGHLIGHT brush ;) - but we have had this discussion before - if it works for you (and it does) then who am I to say you should change? :)
Vince Venturella I moved up to 0 :) And a Cotman 2 for larger areas :)
You have just become my hero.